May 4, 2025
Easter 3C
John 21:1-19 | Cast the Net

Opening Meditation
"Mutual aid…model[s] what is possible when we live through an ethic of sharing rather than scarcity…mutual aid brings us back to basic human instincts and the initial vision of the church…Our impulse to share is our birthright…When we are baptized into the church...we claim and are claimed within new kinds of relationships - relationships of justice, dignity, and mutual belovedness, new solidarities made possible in Christ. Mutual aid calls us into these new solidarities, which we are reminded of at the communion table when we remember that God sets a table for all, right here in the midst of public health crises, late capitalism, and the terrors of deportation, empire, white supremacy, and climate change.”

Margaret Ernst and Cathey Carrillo, “Living Into New Solidarities: Mutual Aid as Gospel Practice in Building Up a New World: Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact, 216-217.

Call to Worship
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way…John 21:1
Leader:		You’d think, by now, we would get used to him showing up like this
Left Side:	inviting us to cast the net deeper and wider
Right Side: 	showing us the way to abundance is leaning into new possibilities

Leader:		We are starting to open ourselves to these hauntings,
Left Side: 	encouraging us to share what we have and watch it multiply
Right Side:	showing us the way to flourishing is together

Leader:		We are learning to recognize this ghost asking about love 
Left Side:	calling us to tend and nourish each other
Right Side: 	showing us the way to new life is new solidarities 

Leader:		You’d think, by now we would get used to Jesus in our midst
Left Side: 	welcoming us to the worship that is love in action
Right Side: 	showing us the way to transformation is mutual belovedness
All:		Let us worship God, because we know in our bones,
		everywhere we turn, 
it is the Lord!

Music Suggestion 
Whichever Way You Turn by John Philip Newell

Invocation
Is it you, Jesus? Are you really here? 
Is the message you gave us really true? 
Did the story turn out like you said? 
Can we trust it is you in the distance when the night is long and our nets empty? 
Will there be more if we share? 
Can we find you when we eat together? 
Do we love you when we feed each other? 
Amen.

Invocation Alternative/Spiritual Practice: Centering Prayer
Leader:	 Take a moment to choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to open to God’s resurrecting presence and action within. You could use words like: abundance, sharing, full, feed, tend, love

Take a few deep breaths and let your bodymindspirit settle into prayer.  In the silence, call to mind the sacred word you chose.  If other thoughts interrupt, return gently to your sacred word. Notice what the Holy may be offering you in this moment.

[Hold silence for 2-3 minutes]

With gratitude for the presence of God’s resurrecting spirit in and among us, and acting through us, we offer our prayers.  Amen. 

Prayer for Transformation and New Life
Generous Creator, forgive us when we believe the lies that scarcity tells us: 
if they just worked harder…
I’ve earned everything I have…
there won’t be enough if I share…
I have to protect what’s mine…
safety comes from holding on to what I have…
I can’t count on anyone but myself…
Gracious Redeemer, teach us to cast our nets differently. 
Time of Silent Reflection
Words of Grace
The Abundant Spirit opens before us the ways of flourishing: 
the impulse to share is our birthright
dignity and justice belong to us all
there is more when we contribute to each other’s wholeness
together, we keep us safe
flourishing for all is possible together
Assembly: 	Praise God who loves us into thriving new life!

Embodied Practice
Invitation to Communion
After Easter, after the resurrection, when Jesus wants to be sure his followers know it's really him present again among them, more often than not, he shares food with them.  To know the resurrected Jesus, to encounter life beyond death, is to eat together surrounded by abundance.  So in the midst of all the death-dealing forces of this world, all the suffering and injustice, let us set the table together, where all are welcome, all know dignity and belovedness, and all are fed.  
Communion Prayer
In Eastertide, we remember that our celebrations of new life don’t end with resurrection.  It is this new day dawning that calls us to keeping living into this newness by building up a new world.  So let us practice resurrection and building up a new world this day by building our communion prayer together.
First, let us cast our nets into the depths of our joy.  
In a word or short phrase, what praise do we offer the Creator this day? 
[pause for people to share]
Now, let us cast our nets into the wideness of our love. 
In a word or short phrase, what prayers for transformation do we bring before the Redeemer this day? 
[pause for people to share]
Finally, let us cast our nets into the breadth of our vision of God’s kindom come.
In a word or short phrase, what work do we hope the Spirit to do in and through us this day? 
[pause for people to share]

God of newness and abundance, we set this table with our prayers, 
remembering that it was you who set the table at that last supper with your friends…
[share the story of the last supper/words of institution]

People of God, Jesus invites to come and eat. 
As we share in the abundance of God’s love, 
may we come to know the presence of Jesus in our midst, 
and be reminded that to love Jesus is to feed and nourish each other.  
[sharing of communion]

Invitation to Generosity
We’ve come to a moment in our worship where we intentionally practice mutual aid – we share what we have so that we all can flourish. Scarcity teaches us to hold back, to see what we lack instead of what we have, to fear there won’t be enough if we give it away. But today, let’s cast our nets to the other side of the boat, where abundance lives, waiting for us to recognize it. Let’s lean into the imagination of the new world we can build together if we believe in abundance.  What could that world look like? Shout out some visions of that new world of flourishing for all.
[allow time for people to offer some feedback]
So let’s build up that new world of flourishing for all with these offerings. 

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Dedication
Leader:		For the bread broken and shared, for the nourishment of each other, 
Assembly:	We dedicate ourselves and our offerings. Thanks be to God. 
Leader:		For dignity and belovedness, for the blessing of together, 
Assembly:	We dedicate ourselves and our offerings. Thanks be to God. 
Leader:		For the abundance of love that the world cannot take away. 
Assembly:	We dedicate ourselves and our offerings. Thanks be to God. 

Benediction
Leader:		Beloved community, do you love God? 
Assembly:	Yes, you know that we love God. 
Leader:		Feed God’s lambs. 
Leader:		Beloved community, will you keep loving God? 
Assembly:	Yes, you know that we will keep loving God. 
Leader:		Tend God’s sheep. 
Leader:		Beloved community, are you blessed by God’s love? 
Assembly:	The God who knows everything knows that we are blessed by God’s love. Leader:		Then go forth from this place to live and love abundantly
setting a table for all in the midst of injustice
growing relationships of justice, dignity and mutual belovedness
sharing what you have so that all may flourish.  
Assembly:	Thanks be to our risen and rising up God!

Other Music Suggestion 
More Than We Can Ask by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (Sing! Prayer and Praise #81)

Building Up a New World – Cast the Net: Service Prayers for Easter 3C was written by Dr. Sharon R. Fennema, who serves as Join the Movement toward Racial Justice Curator with UCC National Ministries.